§ MR. CULLINANTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that since the passing of the Loral Government Act, 1898, under which half the landlord's portion of rates was paid, the members of the Local Government Board are forcing boards of guardians to increase their staffs, to expend large sums in alterations in workhouses and hospitals, to increase salaries by imposing new duties, and generally to increase the burden on the ratepayer; whether under the Land Purchase Acts the occupier has to bear the entire burden of increased rates; and whether, as the entire amount of the said increase has to be borne by local 1448 contribution, he will see his way to having half the amount contributed, as was the practice prior to the passing of the Local Government Act.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The general policy of the Local Government Board is quite the opposite of that suggested in the Question. In exceptional cases, in which the existing staff was found to be inadequate to meet the requirements of the sick poor, the action of the Local Government Board may have involved increased expenditure by local authorities, but the great majority of the complaints made against the Board are that they refuse to sanction increased expenditure upon salaries and other matters. The Land Purchase Acts have not affected the incidence of the rates. The hon. Member should bear in mind that a reversion to the system which existed prior to 1898 would involve the withdrawal from Ireland of the Agricultural Grant of over £700,000 a year.